


A Beta's Crash Course in Pack Management

by avianscribe



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, The family-friendly ABO no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23221741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avianscribe/pseuds/avianscribe
Summary: Prompto hasn't spent enough time with Gladio and Ignis to feel like he's really part of the pack -- but when the pack suddenly has achildin it, he discovers how much he's reallyneeded.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia & Prompto Argentum & Noctis Lucis Caelum & Ignis Scientia
Comments: 37
Kudos: 241





	A Beta's Crash Course in Pack Management

**Author's Note:**

  * For [star54kar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/star54kar/gifts).



> Okay, so... quite some time ago someone challenged me to write a family-friendly ABO -- and then one of the prompts I got for the holiday exchange inspired this idea. I didn't finish it in time for the exchange (I wrote a different fic for that) but I couldn't let the idea go! So I stuck this one out and finished it, and now here it is! star54kar, this is really for you -- because your prompt inspired it. I hope you enjoy!

Three weeks out from Insomnia wasn’t enough time, Prompto decided, to really know their pack worked.

They should have had plenty of time beforehand, but it hadn’t been enough.

Prompto had a pretty solid bond with Noctis already. They were attuned to each others’ scents, and had been for years; all those nights lounging together in Noct’s apartment playing games; all those casual touches. It was just… a little harder with Gladio and Ignis. 

Ignis wasn’t one to casually lounge with them; and Gladio wasn’t, really, either. So they just hadn’t had the time to acclimate to one another. Prompto had been working with them for a good month before their departure, training together, trying to strengthen their pack bonds and blend their scents. He’d thought it was working… Now he wasn’t so sure. Feet to the ground, they were having to balance things out on the fly.

Prompto knew it was _his_ fault. As the beta of the group, he was supposed to tie everything together; to balance everything out, help the headstrong alphas curb their impulses, and moderate the natural obsessive tendencies of the omega. 

Trouble was… Ignis might as well _be_ a beta himself. For all that omegas had a reputation, Ignis defied it at every turn. He was a better beta than _Prompto._ He was always calling Noct to task, always chiding Gladio into good behavior. He wasn’t obsessing over the placement of every little thing at their campsite, and he wasn’t flying into emotional histrionics anytime anything went wrong. 

And things had definitely gone wrong.

Insomnia’s fall had hit them all hard. Noct and Gladio had taken to sniping at each other. Ignis had just gotten very quiet. No hysterics, just quiet efficiency and calm. 

Gladio fussed about his sister, scrambling for any news of where she was and whether or not she was safe. (Iris was an alpha, too, _and_ an Amicitia, and more than capable of taking care of herself, even at sixteen.) Prompto wasn’t sure he wanted to try to interfere with whatever Gladio was doing to keep his emotions in check; he was liable to just rip Prompto’s head off if it went wrong. So he stuck to what he knew best, drawing Noctis out with quiet comfort and phone games in turns. Noct seemed to accept it, as much as he accepted anything right now. He was too quiet.

Prompto was a mess. 

He shouldn’t be a mess; he was a level-headed _beta_ , for Astrals’ sake. He kept his panic inside as much as he could, but he knew it bled out at times. His nervous ticks and twitches. Sometimes Ignis would put a calming hand on his shoulder and give him a quiet smile of assurance, and it helped, until Prompto realized _he_ should be the one doing that for the others.

It was Ignis, in the end, who suggested taking hunts.

They needed the money, since they couldn’t rely on the royal coffers anymore. They were in hiding, all the crown’s assets seized by Niflheim. So when Ignis discovered they could make money from helping hunters out with odd tasks, he leapt at the chance.

They picked up a few, and they were easy enough -- taking out varmints in the wildlands, or daemons in the dark. It was a way to earn money, but it also helped them hone their skills.

In the third week after Insomnia’s fall, they picked up another flyer for a daemon hunt from Cauthess Rest Station.

“It should be simple enough,” Igins said, as he scanned the flyer. “Two daemons, though they seem to be particularly troublesome…”

Gladio grabbed it from his hand (and ignored Ignis’s sigh). “Haven’t seen anything like _this_ before,” he said, and handed the flier to Prompto. 

The drawing looked a little like the mindflayers they’d taken on a couple days ago. Prompto squinted. “Any idea what they do?” he asked. 

The tipster chuckled. “No one’s gotten close enough,” he said. “Too smart to go looking for trouble. You guys watch out… don’t get too close.”

“I think we know how to handle ourselves,” Ignis said, then thanked the tipster, and they all headed out.

They still had a while before nightfall, but they decided to head for a haven all the same. Didn’t hurt to get camp set up so they had a place to crash once the hunt was done… and this one was close to the daemons’ location. 

They set up camp in a flash. Prompto helped out where he could. Then he and Noct passed the time with phone games, waiting for nightfall, while Ignis prepared food and Gladio went out for a quick jog to scout the territory. The location of the hunt was just around a rocky outcrop not a hundred meters south of camp, which would be super convenient for going straight to bed as soon as the hunt was done. 

The sun hung low in the sky when Ignis passed around a quick meal of sandwiches. They all ate, checked their supplies, and then headed out to the site. 

They were in place just in time to see the daemons bubble up from the ground. 

These things were weird from the start. Like the drawings, they kind of _looked_ like mindflayers, but they didn’t behave like them. At all. The torchlight seemed to fold around them in a weird way, like they didn’t quite exist in real space. It made them hard to see -- and when they _were_ visible, they looked like something out of a horror movie. If Prompto hadn’t been fighting for his life, he would probably have been screaming. 

He held it together. Barely. He did his job, and did what he could to extend his calming influence on the others. His mild beta scent helped alphas and omegas keep a level head. From what he could tell, it was working; Noctis, Ignis and Gladio all did their amazing teamwork thing, while Prompto took shots where he could. 

Things started to look up. Prompto could smell it in the confident scents of the others -- Noct’s spice, Gladio’s floral musk, and Ignis’s leather and mint; all of them bold and confident.

Gladio took down one of the daemons, and Prompto started to relax. Just a little more, and the next one would be gone too. Then Noctis went in for a strike, and just as he connected the creature spewed out an awful-looking purple smoke.

“Look out!” Ignis called, and he and Gladio pulled back -- but Noctis caught it in the face. He stumbled away, coughing; the daemon made a swing at him that he put up a bare arm to block and Prompto heard a sickening crunch. Noctis yelped in pain.

“Noct!” Gladio yelled, and darted in. He grabbed Noctis quick by the shoulder and swung him away. Whatever vapor it was faded quickly. Then Gladio and Ignis pulled one of their totally badass joint maneuvers that involved Gladio launching Ignis into the air with the flat of his sword and Ignis summoning a lance, and both of them taking a swing at the thing at once -- and they cut the daemon clean in half. It dissolved into smoke. Prompto almost could have cheered. 

“And that’s that,” Ignis said, between deep breaths.

“That wasn’t too hard,” Gladio said. “Hey, Princess… you okay over there?” 

They all turned to see how the prince was doing.

Where Noctis should have been, sat a teeny, tousle-haired toddler, huddled in clothes far too large for him.

Prompto realized his jaw was hanging open and closed it with a snap. 

“N… Noct??” Ignis said. 

Two things happened immediately. Noctis started wailing like an injured sabertusk cub, cradling his clearly-broken arm, and Gladio and Ignis both froze and stared at him. Their nostrils flared in tandem, and Prompto suspected his did, too. 

Noct’s smell had changed. 

Instead of cloves and cinnamon and the sharp electric tang of magic, he smelled like a child. Like youth, like spring air and dirt, and almost like milk. On top of that, he smelled like _pack_ … like _their_ pack. 

“Uh oh,” Prompto said, as several things suddenly came into sharp focus. 

He noticed the scents first -- Ignis and Gladio's both, souring with distress.

Gladio straightened and took a deep breath, then let out a frustrated growl. “What the hell happened to him? And how do we turn him back??”

Ignis reached for Noctis with trembling hands. “He’s _hurt!”_ he said. He carefully approached the howling Noctis and knelt beside him. He froze when Noctis wailed all the more. “It’s all right, it’s all right…” He picked Noctis up by the torso and lifted him out of his pooled clothing. He held the toddler at arm’s length, while Noctis cried. “Prompto, a potion, please…! I’d do it myself, but I fear I need both hands here...”

Prompto winced at the uncharacteristic panic in Ignis’s voice, and in his scent. “Uh, yeah. Here.” He pulled a potion from the Armiger and handed it over. Ignis quickly popped the curative over Noct’s arm and Prompto had to look away as the break righted itself. Noct’s wailing faded to little whimpers. Ignis summoned a clean towel from the arsenal and tucked it around the child. Ignis clutched him close, rocking him, saying “There there,” over and over again. 

This had to be some sort of status effect… like that time a naga turned Ignis and Gladio into toads. Prompto grabbed a remedy and handed it to Ignis, who glared at it suspiciously for several seconds without doing anything. 

“Igs, take it,” Prompto said finally. “It’s just a remedy,”

“Oh,” Ignis said sheepishly. “I… Apologies, I just… seem to be having some difficulty focusing right now. Forgive me.” He took the remedy from Prompto and used it on Noctis and they all waited, holding their breath.

Nothing happened.

Noctis started to whimper again. Ignis inhaled a sharp hiss through his teeth, and cuddled tiny Noctis close again.

Prompto glanced at Gladio, only to see the big man practically trembling. “We’re not safe here,” Gladio grumbled. “We’re _not safe.”_

“Yeah,” Prompto said, trying not to pay attention to the hitch in his voice. He usually waited for one of the others to announce their next move. He looked from Gladio (who couldn’t take his eyes off Noctis) and Ignis (who was still trying to comfort the little guy). Prompto slowly realized that neither was in any condition to make decisions. 

He picked up all of Noct’s discarded clothes and sent them into the arsenal, and then chewed on his lip while he wrangled with his own rising panic. “Back to camp, guys,” he said finally. “we’ve gotta get out of the night.”

“Yes,” Ignis said hastily. “Yes, that’s… that’s an excellent idea.” He stood, carefully cradling Noctis to his chest… and looked at Prompto expectantly. Gladio hovered behind him, glowering like a behemoth. 

“O… okay, then,” Prompto said. “This way.”

The walk back to camp was… strange. Ignis pressed close behind him. In his arms, Noctis whimpered. (Prompto wondered if his arm still hurt, poor little guy.) Gladio followed, watching the shadows sometimes but mostly keeping both eyes on Noctis. As soon as they set foot on the haven, Ignis made a beeline to the tent and took toddler-Noctis inside, while Gladio paced the perimeter. 

“Uh,” Prompto said, but he wasn’t really sure what to do. He glanced at the tent, then at furiously-pacing Gladio. He thought back through their evening… They’d set camp, they’d had dinner, they’d headed out for the hunt with the intent to come back and pretty much go straight to bed. But now… 

Now, Noctis had been injured and _was a kid again how the heck_ and they were all tired and they really needed to go to bed.

And maybe that’s what Ignis was getting the tent ready for. Prompto could hear rummaging going on inside, and figured Ignis must be settling Noct down for sleep. So Prompto decided to start with the problem he could see. He jogged over to Gladio’s side and matched him pace for pace -- as difficult as that was, what with Gladio’s enormous stride.

“C’mon big guy,” he said. “We all need sleep, and that means you, too.” 

“Can’t,” Gladio said. “Not safe.” 

It was weird, Prompto thought, for Gladio to be so curt. He laughed hesitantly. “C’mon, that’s just your alpha talking,” he said, taking a risk. He thought the most calming thoughts he could, and hoped his scent reflected it. “It’s late and we’re in a haven; we’ll be okay.” 

Gladio stopped in his tracks, and looked at Prompto -- _really_ looked, for the first time since Noct got kid-ified. He took a deep breath, then slowly let it out and said “Yeah, you’re right.” 

Prompto tried not to sigh in relief, and headed to the tent. But he’d only barely gotten the flap unzipped when Ignis's voice stopped him in his tracks. “Hold it right there!” 

Prompto froze. 

That moment of hesitation was enough to see what was going on in the tent. Ignis had taken all their sleeping bags and unzipped them, and was now piling them together in the middle. Noctis was curled up, whimpering, on someone’s pillow to the side, still tucked carefully in the clean towel, while Ignis prepared… whatever it was he was doing. 

“Not ready,” Ignis muttered. “Not right. Prompto -- do we have any more blankets, perchance?” 

“Ignis, what are you--” 

“We can’t settle until I get this right,” Ignis said, as if it was the most rational thing in the world. And maybe in his mind, it was. 

“Igs, I’m sure Noct will be fine with what we have; just--” 

“But it’s not _right,”_ Ignis insisted, and tucked the end of one of the sleeping bags, making them all into a rough circle in the center of the…

Oh. 

Prompto sighed. He didn’t know anything about omega nesting habits -- it wasn’t anything he’d thought he would ever need to know -- but clearly Ignis’s omega brain had told him that having a child with them meant that they needed a proper nest. There was no way they’d get one with their camping gear. 

It was so late. They didn’t have time for this; Prompto just wanted to _sleep._

“Look, Igs, just for tonight,” he pleaded. “We can’t get more blankets or anything, without risking daemon attack--” 

Gladio growled behind him. 

Prompto ignored it. “--so we’ll just have to make do with what we have right now. This will be just fine. This has _been_ fine for weeks.”

Ignis looked up at him, so lost and desperate and unlike himself that Prompto might have laughed, except for how unfunny it was. 

Prompto sighed and thought fast. It was up to him to calm things down. He gestured at Noctis, starting to nod off now with just a pillow under him. “Look at him,” he said. “He’ll be just fine.” He focused on comforting, calming thoughts. It had worked with Gladio.

Ignis took a little more convincing. He did finally give in -- but only after he’d arranged them all into a massive cuddle pile on the unzipped sleeping bags, with Noctis in the middle. Ignis curled around him protectively, and Prompto found himself between Noctis and Gladio -- who insisted on laying closest to the door, and who draped an arm over Prompto so he could put a protective hand on Noct’s back.

Noctis slept through all this, and as soon as everyone was settled and the tent zipped shut, Ignis dropped off, as well. Gladio took a little longer, but soon his regular, deep breaths joined Ignis’s.

Prompto lay there much longer, awake and on edge, unused to the close contact and calculating what he would have to do tomorrow to keep everything together. Prompto had never been part of a pack with a tiny child before. He hoped whatever-this-was that had shrunk Noctis wore off by morning.

He wasn’t cut out for this.

* * *

The next morning proved it.

Noctis _didn't_ change back overnight, and the sun had only barely risen when Prompto decided to call Cor. They weren’t supposed to unless it was _really important_ but Prompto was sure this counted. As soon as the Marshal picked up, Prompto heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Marshal, you’ve gotta help us,” he said, not caring at how panicked he sounded. 

Cor’s sharp “What happened?” made him jump, embarrassingly. 

Somewhere behind him Noctis was screaming, and Ignis was cajoling the poor kid, trying to get him to eat some cut up bananas. Gladio’s footsteps around the perimeter of the haven beat an unpleasant rhythm in Prompto’s head, and he wondered if he was developing his first ever migraine.

“Well, ah,” he started hesitantly. “So… we took a hunt? And it was this weird daemon and Noct got caught in this purple gassy stuff it spewed at us and now he’s a baby.” 

“He’s a _what?”_

“Yeah, and we tried a remedy and it didn’t work? But more importantly, I think it’s done something to the pack dynamic and everything’s weird now and I don’t know what to do!”

“The _pack_ dynamic?” 

“Well, you know, ‘cuz our pack has a child in it now and so Ignis and Gladio have kind of gone nuts?” 

Cor was silent a moment, digesting this news, and Prompto sat on his free hand to keep from biting his nails. “Nuts _how?”_ Cor said finally.

Prompto glanced behind him, to where Ignis was still fussing over Noctis, and to where Gladio was hard-core patrolling their teeny patch of haven like they were about to be attacked any moment. The two of them were pointedly ignoring each other AND Prompto. “Well, Gladio’s gotten super overprotective -- he wouldn’t let me leave the haven for my run this morning because something might get me?”

Cor grunted.

“And Ignis has gone into full-on nesting mode -- like, he wanted me to go get more blankets so he could make a proper nest in the tent, but Gladio wouldn’t let me leave the haven, and they had a full-on fight over what to do, because Gladio wouldn’t let me go alone, but he also wouldn’t go with me because it would leave Ignis and Noct unprotected, but then Ignis won’t let Noct out of his sight, so _he_ couldn’t go with me, and now they’re not speaking to one another and I _don’t know what to do!”_

There was silence over the line again, and this time it only broke when Cor started laughing. 

“Cor, this-- Gah! This isn’t funny!”

“I know, I know,” Cor said, still chuckling. “I’m laughing because I’ve been there.” 

“You… you have?” 

“I might tell you later. In the meantime… I’m sorry you have to deal with those idiots right now. Here’s what I suggest you do, until I can get over there.”

* * *

The plan was super-simple, and Cor was so good at explaining how things worked.

Since the pheromones had turned everyone else nuts, they all depended on Prompto -- and it was his own uncertainty that was tripping him up. 

"It's _my fault?"_ He moaned when Cor tried to explain. 

"No, don't be ridiculous," Cor said. "You can't blame yourself. But if you aren't absolutely confident, in their state they will doubt you, and will trust their own instincts instead."

"Oh," Prompto said, and in dawning realization, thought back to the previous evening… when he'd taken charge, they had followed his lead without question. Both of them.

“You just need to be firm,” Cor said. “And trust yourself.”

“Ignis is so much better at this stuff,” Prompto moaned. 

“Not right now, he’s not,” Cor said with a chuckle. “Weskham was absolutely helpless, too, and that’s saying something.” 

Prompto hadn’t met Weskham, but Noct had shown him pictures of his dad’s old pack. Weskham had looked particularly smart and dressed as fancy as Ignis. Prompto wondered how similar they actually were.

“The other thing you need to do is get Noctis smelling like himself again,” Cor continued. “Pull something not-too-dirty out of his laundry. That should do the job. Even if he just smells a _little_ like himself, that should be enough to shake your friends out of whatever haze they’re in.” 

“Really?” Prompto said. “Just… that’s all?”

“That should be enough,” Cor said. “Give it a try. And call me if you run into any more trouble. All right?” 

“Yes, sir,” Prompto said. 

“Good luck, Argentum.” 

“Thanks, Marshal.”

Prompto sighed and ended the call with a flick of his thumb. Then he squared his shoulders. “All right,” he said. “All right. I can do this.”

At least, he hoped so.

* * *

It was all easier said than done. His first obstacle turned out to be Ignis.

“You will _not_ put Noct in that _filthy thing,_ you will _Not!”_ Ignis said. He clung protectively to Noctis, who clutched at his shirt and started sobbing. 

Prompto huffed in frustration, and lowered the black T-shirt he’d been holding out. “Anything will be better than that towel that falls off as soon as he moves anywhere.” 

“Until he’s bathroom trained, it’s easier to wrap him in a towel than have him wear something that could be soiled at any moment,” Ignis insisted. “Put that back in the dirty laundry where you found it!”

Prompto exhaled slowly, and then squared his shoulders. ‘Be firm,’ Cor’s voice said in his head. He forced his anxious nerves to be calm. He wished that he knew how to just engage his calming beta scent at will, but. This would have to do. “Look, Igs… Cor’s coming over to help us figure out what to do for Noct. And… stuff. How about I hold onto him a moment while you… ah… tidy up? Before he gets here?” 

“Everything's perfectly fine as it is,” Ignis snapped. “Except the tent. Is Cor bringing us blankets?”

 _“No,_ Cor’s not coming to bring us _blankets,”_ Prompto hissed. “He’s--”

“Then he can go right back where he came from, and if you _wanted_ to be helpful, you’d bring me--” 

“Igs! Please!” Prompto took a deep breath and forcibly smothered his rising irritation. When he spoke again, he was calm. Mostly. “Cor. Is coming. To help us with Noct. We need. To pack up. And he’ll help us get back to the car. We’ll do better in a hotel until everything goes back to normal. Okay?”

Ignis looked at him, his brows knit together and his mouth slightly parted in uncertainty. His eyes darted to Noctis and back. “I… suppose… that makes sense.” His grip on Noctis relaxed, and Noct’s cries settled into whimpers. 

Prompto raised his hands and flicked his fingers. “Give him here and I’ll get him out of your hands for a minute.”

Ignis hesitantly handed Noctis over -- then stared at the prince like he was rethinking, and would grab him back any minute. 

“Go on,” Prompto said, and gave Ignis’s shoulder a little nudge. “Get stuff organized in there so Gladio can take it back to the car. I’ve got things here.” He shifted Noct on his hip, and gave Ignis his winningest smile.

Ignis side-eyed him all the way to the tent. As soon as Ignis was safely out of sight, Prompto sat right on the ground and plopped Noctis in his lap. He unwrapped the towel from around Noct’s teeny body and popped the t-shirt over his head. It wasn’t the one he’d been wearing in the fight, thankfully -- that one still stank of daemon vapor, and Prompto couldn’t be sure that it didn’t have traces on it of whatever had turned Noctis tiny in the first place. It was safer for Noct to wear something else. 

(Ignis was definitely conscientious about doing laundry… Prompto was lucky there were _two_ dirty shirts, and not just the one.) 

And this one… Prompto gave Noctis a quick hug and took a sniff at the nape of his neck. Yep, it smelled like spices and magic. Like _Noctis._ Prompto leaned back again and smiled down at him. “There you go, kid,” he said, and patted Noctis on the head.

Noctis sat on Prompto’s crossed ankles and peered into his face with wide eyes. “Pom-po,” he said, and patted his hands on Prompto’s cheeks.

It was the first thing Noctis had said, the whole time he’d been small. 

“Oh, my, GODS,” Prompto gasped, and his voice broke a little. He blinked at the sudden prickle of tears. “Noct, you’re killing me.”

“Is everything all right?” Ignis called from the tent. 

“Yeah,” Prompto squeaked. “He’s just… so stinking cute…” 

“Does he need anything? Do I need to--” 

There was a shifting noise inside the tent, and Prompto quickly said, “No! No, we’re fine here, just-- do the thing, Ignis; we’re fine!”

“... If you’re sure…?”

“Yep,” Prompto said, knowing that if he had any hesitation whatsoever, Ignis would be out of the tent and fussing over Noctis again. Noctis needed some time in the shirt to get himself smelling right, before Ignis got his hands on him again.

But… Noctis had said his name, and that meant he knew who he was. And that was a good thing, too.

“‘Kay, buddy,” Prompto said, and moved Noctis from his legs to the ground so he could stand up. “Let’s go chat with Uncle Gladio, alright?” 

“Gad’o,” Noctis said. 

Prompto melted a little more. “Yep, that’s right,” he managed, and took Noct’s hand and let him walk (more like toddle, on his unsteady legs) over to where Gladio was stalking back and forth. 

Gladio barely spared them a glance at first, but after a quick double-take, he squinted at Noctis. “Kinda close to the edge,” he grumbled. 

Prompto sighed. “He’s, like, five feet away from it, big guy,” he said. “And I’m holding his hand. He’s fine.” 

Gladio grunted and almost looked offended. But Prompto saw his nostrils flare. He was scenting. Prompto picked Noctis up and put him in Gladio’s arms. 

For such huge guy, Gladio was incredibly gentle, and held Noctis with confidence born of practice. Prompto reminded himself that Gladio probably had plenty of practice when Iris was little. He bounced Noctis on his hip a couple times. “Hey, little guy,” he said in the smallest voice he could make. Then he held Noctis close -- and buried his nose in Noct’s shirt, and breathed. “Oh,” he said, and blinked a couple times -- like he was just waking up. “It’s… well, of course it’s you.”

“Gad’o,” Noctis said, and Gladio’s grin was the sappiest Prompto had ever seen. 

Prompto took a deep breath. “Hhhhhokay, big guy…” he started. “So. Cor is coming.”

“Cor?” 

“Y...yeah. He’s gonna help us figure out what to do about Noct. But when he gets here, we’ve gotta be ready to go. Think you can help get stuff packed up in the car?”

Gladio glowered at him. “Pack the car?” he said. “But I’m--”

“Yeah, you’re guarding and stuff, but…” Prompto shrugged. “It’s _daytime._ And there’s, like, nothing for miles. We’re safe, big guy… and the car really isn’t that far away. I can take care of Noct long enough for you guys to pack up the car.” He reached for Noctis, but Gladio held him close. 

“What about Ignis?” Gladio said. “He agree to this? He was… kind of settled in.”

“Yeah, well…” Prompto glanced over his shoulder at the tent, and grinned mischievously. “He let me take Noct. I think he’s cleaning things up now.”

Gladio’s face relaxed. He took another whiff of Noct’s scent, and handed him over. Then he went to the tent, and when he emerged, he was piled high with their gear, which Ignis had indeed been assembling. Soon there was a growing stack of their camping gear at the edge of the haven.

Prompto entertained Noctis while the other two got things packed up, and the tent was just coming down when Cor showed up on chocobo back. He reined in when his bird reached the haven top, and he dismounted. Then he stalked over to where Prompto was sitting in a camping chair, Noctis nestled in his lap. 

Noctis perked up when the chocobo approached in Cor’s wake. “Boco!” Noctis yelled, and made grabby hands at the bird. 

“Marshal!” Prompto said, and started to stand.

“At ease, Crownsguard,” Cor said, a tiny smile curling his lips. “Your Majesty,” he said to Noctis, and bowed. Completely unironically. 

Noctis just stared up at him with wide, blue eyes.

“You know he doesn’t know what that means right now,” Prompto said. 

“You never know,” Cor said. “And anyway, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Then he looked over to where Gladio and Ignis were working together to get the tent packed up. “Looks like things have settled,” he said, his voice low.

Prompto laughed. “Yeah,” he said. “Thanks for the advice.”

“Anytime.” 

“I’m dying to know where your past experience came from.” 

“His Majesty made me swear never to tell anyone,” Cor said. “And if you ever ask Weskham to confirm it, he’ll deny knowing anything about what happened. It’s better if I don’t. Better for _me.”_

Prompto snickered. 

“Now… as far as the status ailment, or whatever this is… You said you used a remedy?” 

“Yeah,” Prompto said.

“It’s alright… it’s tricky but it wears off with time.” 

“How _much_ time?” 

“Oh, a day or two. Not a lot. But you’d still be better off waiting it out in a hotel room. And I guarantee Ignis will be easier to manage if he has the flexibility to make a proper nest, and Gladio will be happier if you’re all behind a locked door.”

“Yeah,” Prompto said shakily. 

Cor gave him a look then, and his mouth twisted up in a half-smile. “You did good, kid.” 

Caught off-guard, Prompto blinked at him. “Are you-- I mean, thank you, sir, but I don’t…”

“You kept your cool,” Cor said, “and you did it while facing down two of the Crownsguard’s elite. That’s more than a lot of people can claim.” Then he reached out and ruffled Prompto’s hair in a move so familiar it took Prompto off-guard. He even got a rare whiff of Cor’s muted beta scent. 

He blushed and ducked his head. “Thanks, sir,” he mumbled. 

Cor grunted. Then, louder, “Alright, let’s get you all packed up.”

A dual “Yes, Marshal” came from the direction of the tent.

* * *

Cor escorted them to the nearest outpost with a hotel and left them to it.

As soon as they got inside their room, Gladio pushed the door closed and breathed a huge sigh. The scent of relief rolled off him in waves. Then he set up a chair by the door, with a good view of the windows, so he could keep an eye on everything. Ignis, meanwhile, got to work pushing the beds together, and piled all the blankets and bedding in the room on top. 

And Prompto just let him. 

They were in a room; they were safe. They’d be okay -- at least until Noctis got over whatever this was. Which Cor said he would, soon enough. 

A couple days.

He could handle a couple days.

Noctis, meanwhile, treated it all like a game. He giggled and laughed, and toddled back and forth between Ignis and Gladio -- patting Gladio’s knees until he lifted him into his lap, then climbing right back down and running over to Ignis and pulling at his trousers until Ignis lifted him up and cuddled him, cooing into his hair. Then he’d beg to be let down, and it would start again. 

It fell to Prompto to go get take-out, which he quickly did, and passed food around to everyone -- including a kiddie meal for Noctis. Prompto even managed to get Ignis to take enough of a break to eat, too. Once everyone was fed, Prompto set out all their bags, and then took the first shower and pulled on his sleeping clothes. He sank into one of the overstuffed chairs with a groan, while Gladio took his turn in the shower. 

Prompto had almost fallen asleep when Noctis pulled himself into his lap with little grunts and a lot of determination.

“Hey, buddy,” Prompto said, when Noctis triumphantly patted his nose. Prompto lifted Noctis to shift him into a better position on his lap. Then Noctis snuggled in, and his little weight melted into the crook of Prompto’s arm. “Awww!” Prompto squealed.

“He likes you,” Ignis said gently. 

It didn’t last, because Ignis was too efficient. As soon as he was satisfied with his nesting efforts, he lifted Noctis off of Prompto’s lap and tucked the now-sleeping toddler into the mess of pillows and sheets. Then he shooed Prompto into the nest, too. “You look after him while we prepare for bed,” Ignis said. 

Prompto was asleep before Gladio left the shower. It had been a long day.

* * *

Prompto woke because he couldn’t breathe. 

It took him a moment to register that it was because there was something heavy on top of him. He tried to push it off, but it resisted -- and then moaned. Prompto recognized that sleepy protest.

“Nnn--ooct?” he wheezed. 

The prince himself, fully-grown and curled up right on Prompto’s chest, said “Nnnnngh,” and rolled over onto Prompto’s face.

He flailed, and in the process smacked first Gladio and then Ignis, both of whom startled awake with a bellowed curse on one side and a tight “Sweet Six in a Tree” on the other. Thankfully, they both were light enough sleepers that they registered at once what was going on and helped lift the prince off Prompto so that he didn’t die. He scrambled out of the nest, gasping.

Noctis, on the other hand, curled up even tighter and continued blissfully sleeping. He’d filled out the T-shirt that had drowned his toddler body -- and Prompto was glad the blankets hid everything else. Ignis rolled out of bed to rummage in Noct’s luggage to find him more clothes, and Gladio sat up and stretched, making a series of pops as he did.

“Bathroom,” Prompto wheezed, and staggered in that direction. 

By the time he was out, Ignis had managed to dress Noctis enough to be decent, and Prompto took a deep breath… _There._ Noct’s scent had mellowed back into that spice-and-magic smell that Prompto was so familiar with, and now that it was back, it was like everything else had fallen into place. Ignis’s mint-and-leather and Gladio’s flowers… Not that they hadn’t been pack before, but everything blended in a way it hadn’t. It all felt like it _fit_ now.

Yeah, things were back to normal. _Better_ than normal. It felt like coming home. All the tension he’d been holding in since before Insomnia’s fall flowed out of Prompto like a river, and he bonelessly sank into the overstuffed chair with a relieved groan.

At the sound, the prince stirred and sat up, rubbing at his eyes. “I had the weirdest dream,” he said through a yawn.

“You don’t say,” Ignis said dryly. 

“Yeah,” Noctis said. “It was like… like I was a kid again? Like a little, _little_ kid. And I had three dads. There was this angry, gruff dad, and this gentle, worried dad… and then there was the _main_ dad who made everyone get stuff done.” 

Ignis and Gladio exchanged a glance, and then in unison looked at Prompto.

Noctis rambled on, unaware. “And I think Cor was there? And a chocobo? It was so confusing...” 

Prompto couldn’t help it; the laugh burst out of him before he could take it back. Ignis looked mortified, and Gladio amused. Noctis stared at Prompto like he’d grown horns. 

When Prompto could finally speak again, he walked to the nest and patted Noct’s shoulder. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you’re back, dude. I don’t want to be the ‘dad who gets stuff done’ anymore.” 

But it was good to know he _could_ be, if they needed him.


End file.
